As a founder of the Libertarian
Party and editor-in-chief of California Liberty, I am often asked how to
tell if someone is "really" a libertarian. There are probably as
many different definitions of the word "libertarian" as there are people
who claim the label. These range from overly broad ("anyone who calls himself
a libertarian is one") to impossibly doctrinaire ("only those who agree
with every word in the party platform are truly annointed").

My own definition is that in order to be
considered a libertarian, at least in the political context, an individual
must adhere without compromise to five key points. Ideally, of course,
we'd all be in agreement on everything. But we're not, and probably never
will be. Debate is likely to continue indefinitely on such matters as abortion,
foreign policy, and whether, when, and how various government programs
can be discontinued or privatized. But as far as I'm concerned, if someone
is sound on these five points, he/she is de facto a libertarian; if he
fails on even one of the five, he isn't.

What then, are the "indispensible five" -- the points
of no compromise?

YOU OWN YOURSELF

First and foremost, libertarians believe
in the the principle of self-ownership. You own your own body and mind;
no extermal power has the right to force you into the service of "society"
or "mankind" or any other individual or group for any purpose, however
noble. Slavery is wrong, period.

Because you own yourself, you are responsible
for your own well-being. Others are not obligated to feed you, clothe you,
or provide you with health care. Most of us choose to help one another
voluntarily, for a variety of reasons -- and that's as it should be --
but "forced compassion" is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms.

THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE

Self-ownership implies the right to self-defense.
Libertarians yield to no one in their support for our right as individuals
to keep and bear arms. We only wish that the Second Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution said "The right to self-defense being inalienable..." instead
of that stuff about a "well-regulated militia". Anyone who thinks
that government -- any government -- has the right to disarm its citizens
is NOT a libertarian!

NO "CRIMINAL POSSESSION" LAWS

In fact, libertarians believe that individuals
have the right to own and use anything- gold, guns, marijuana, sexually
explicit material- so long as they do not harm others through force or
the threat of force. Laws criminalizing the simple possession of anything
are tailor-made for police states; it is all too easy to plant a forbidden
substance in someone's home, car or pocket. Libertarians are as tough on
crime- real crime- as anyone. But criminal possession laws are an affront
to liberty, whatever the rhetoric used to defend them.

NO TAXES ON PRODUCTIVITY

In an ideal world, there would be no taxation.
All services would be paid for on an as-used basis. But in a less-than-ideal
world, some services will be force-financed for the foreseeable future.
However, not all taxes are equally deleterious, and the worst form of taxation
is a tax on productivity -- i.e., an income tax -- and no libertarian supports
this type of taxation.

What kind of taxation is least harmful? This
is a topic still open for debate. My own preference is for a single tax
on land. Is this "the" libertarian position on taxes? No. But all libertarians
oppose any form of income tax.

A SOUND MONEY SYSTEM

The fifth and final key test of anyone's
claim to being a libertarian is their support for an honest money system;
i.e. one where the currency is backed by something of true value (usually
gold or silver). Fiat money -- money with no backing, whose acceptance
is mandated by the State -- is simply legalized counterfeiting and is one
of the keys to expanding government power.

The five points enumerated here are not a
complete, comprehensive prescription for freedom... but they would take
us most of the way. A government which cannot conscript, confiscate, or
counterfeit, and which imposes no criminal penalties for the mere possession
and peaceful use of anything, is one that almost all libertarians would
be comfortable with.

Selected Historical
Documents List of Major Documents,
Books, Essays, Pamphlets, & Tracts in the Historical Development of
the American Constitutional Republic, and how this increasingly placed
legal limitations on the prerogatives of political rulers (first the King
and then the Parliament itself), thus effecting a separation of whim from
the use of government force by the assertion of private rights.